Summer wasn’t over.
Yes, the kids had started school… but we had one last family vacation planned.
Whoops. Guess I should have looked at that calendar a little closer.
We were double booked- the kids had their first ‘real’ week of school- the same week that we were committed to be on the Cape with my family. Uncle M, and Auntie L had arranged a week on the Cape for our family (Nonie, Pops, and Uncle A would be joining us!) as well as her parents.
They found the most perfect house, right on the water. It was large enough to accommodate all of us, and was secluded enough to allow the kids plenty of room to play outside. The deck was gated so the kids could also play out there without us fearing they would run down the driveway and into the street.
There wasn’t much ‘yard’ as the front of the house was all driveway (a perk for us, and our numerous cars) and the back of the house was beach. Bay Beach, at that.
How perfect.
Anyone who has ever brought young kids to the beach knows just how miserable it can be. You need to bring so much STUFF with you- Chairs, blankets, towels, umbrella, snacks, water, beach toys, sunscreen, more toys, the list goes on. Once you finally pack everything up and get everything in the car, and get everything out to the beach, they need to go potty, so you have to go find somewhere they can go. Not long after you get back to your spot, the kids are bored and ready to go back home.
On top of that, you need to by pretty vigilant the entire time, watching to make sure they don’t go too far into the water, or get knocked down by waves, or just wander down the beach. It’s really not much fun.
With the house on the beach, however, we were able to go down for a quick splash, then come right back up when they decided they were done.
As disappointing as it was, we couldn’t stay the
entire week. I was determined not to let the kids miss their first actual full day of school. For two kids who had never been in any sort of school environment, I felt it was really important for them to be there as the kids were learning the routine, and getting to know their classmates.
We ended up coming home on Monday afternoon, so they could go to school on Tuesday morning. We had a quiet day at home on Wednesday, then we returned to the Cape after school on Thursday. Our Cape time was Saturday-Monday, and Thursday-Saturday.
Contrary to what you may believe, this probably led to our vacation being a lot more relaxed than it would have been. We didn’t try to fit it all in during our few days on the Cape. A lot of time was spent at the beach, playing with the cousins, catching minnows, building sandcastles, and the kayak even made an appearance or two. It was the perfect ending to our summer.
We did squeeze in a hike or two, and of course, a meal at Arnolds!
If it were any other week, there would have been a chance that I’d have taken them out of school, but it was simply a large oversight on my part to agree to this vacation on their first real week of school.
While we’re discussing poor planning- this was also around the time I should have stepped up my running training- as I was getting closer and closer to my first half marathon. Whoops.